Toshiba, Sony each claim high-def leadership

CEDIA: Company introduce players, marketing campaigns

By Susanne Ault -- Video Business, 9/6/2007

SEPT. 6 | DENVER—High-def rivals Toshiba and Sony used the Custom Electronic Design & Installation Assn. Expo here this week to tout new players as each side claimed market dominance.

Toshiba stressed that its own players combined with the first sub-$200 high-def stand-alone players from Venturer, will give HD DVD the edge this fourth quarter. Toshiba’s third-generation models, the $299 HD-A3, $399 HD-A30 and $499 HD-A35, just started shipping to retail.

Sony, however, claimed that Blu-ray Disc set-top players within the last nine weeks have begun out-selling the long dominant HD DVD format on a unit basis, citing recent NPD Group research. Sony VP Chris Fawcett said the change occurred mostly due to the introduction of Sony’s $499 player.

Sony has three new players coming this fall.

Toshiba fought back with statistics showing that year-to-date through July, Toshiba HD DVD players enjoyed a 55% market share. Collectively, Blu-ray players cornered a 42% share, and dual-format players held a 3% share.

Jodi Sally, Toshiba VP of marketing for digital A/V, believes the Chinese Venturer players will break high-def into the mainstream just like sub-$200 Chinese players did for the standard-definition DVD market during fourth-quarter 2000.

Approximately 1 million Chinese standard-def DVD players sold at mass merchants in about one month’s time, recalled Microsoft HD DVD evangelist Kevin Collins, during an HD DVD demo.

When including the 1.8 million U.S. units sold of Blu-ray-enabled PlayStation 3, Blu-ray handily tops HD DVD in hardware penetration, however. Also, during the first half of 2007, 1.7 million Blu-ray discs sold—twice the amount of HD DVDs moved during the period—according to Sony executives.

But Toshiba claimed HD DVD dominance in the computer sector, as HD DVD PC drives enjoy a 62.7% market share.

To further stoke HD DVD fires, Toshiba is bundling for free both Warner Home Video’s 300 and Universal Studios Home Entertainment’s The Bourne Identity on HD DVD into its new player boxes. Also, Toshiba has partnered with NBC in a season-long campaign with Sunday Night Football, where HD DVD ads and educational spots will frequently air into 2008.

The manufacturer and CBS Home Entertainment also are linked, jointly offering those shoppers who buy both a Toshiba player and the Nov. 20 release of Star Trek: The Original Series on HD DVD a limited edition Star Trek-themed remote control that works with any Toshiba HD DVD player.

Toshiba also is extending its current ‘buy a player, get five HD DVD titles for free” deal until Feb. 28. Details are available at www.toshibahddvd.com.

Sony will try to expand Blu-ray’s sales with the addition of three new products in the format. The company will roll out two high-end models in October and November, the BDP-S2000ES and BDP-S500, for $1,299 and $699, respectively. Both play back 1080p video and offer advanced audio technologies Dolby TrueHD, Dolby Digital Plus and DTS-HD. The S2000ES improves upon past Sony models with sturdier construction and motion control.

Sony also is bowing in October its first Blu-ray media server, the $3,499 HES V1000, which includes a 500GB storage drive and a 200-disc Blu-ray/CD changer. The drive can burn content onto Blu-ray discs, and holds 137 hours of video, 20,000 digital photos or 40,000 songs in storage.

Acknowledging Paramount Pictures and DreamWorks Animation’s recent moves to support HD DVD only, Sony VP of video marketing Chris Fawcett noted at the press conference, “We are even more confident about [Blu-ray dominance]. It’s not any more about if Blu-ray will win the format war, it’s when.”

Sony recently shipped its 100,000th Blu-ray player.

Fawcett noted that Warner’s 300, the best HD DVD title to date, nevertheless has been outsold by its Blu-ray counterpart by 100,000 units. Similarly, twice as many Blu-ray than HD DVD copies have sold of Disturbia and The Shooter.

Given each camp’s convincing tone during CEDIA, it’s likely to make for a significant fourth-quarter battleground.

“You can talk about disc sales or game consoles sold, but [HD DVD’s] strength will be shown over time,” said Craig Kornblau, president of Universal and the HD DVD Promotion Group, during Toshiba’s event. “Look at the economics of HD DVD; it’s why we are putting our weight behind it.”